Cambodia’s honey industry has experienced steady growth in recent years. In 2021, the government awarded its first geographic indication (GI) label for the wild honey harvested in Mondulkiri Province. The protected GI label, granted to local products with distinctive regional qualities, has elevated the profile of Cambodian honey on the global stage.
Although varieties like Modulkiri money have been harvested in Cambodia for centuries, efforts to streamline and formalize the industry’s value chain are relatively recent and spearheaded by the Cambodia Honey Association (CHA), the main advocacy group representing the sector’s stakeholders.
In an interview with GMI POST, CHA underscored the necessary steps to invigorate the industry while providing insight into navigating business in an emerging market landscape.
Collaboration over competition
CHA Executive Director Sem Sreytouch emphasizes the importance of shifting industry stakeholders’ mindset from competition to collaboration.
“One of our main advocacies is to enact a change in mindset among Cambodian honey growers, apiaries, and other stakeholders in the value chain. A united front is required to elevate the overall standards of the Cambodian honey industry” she said.
Prioritize capacity building
Peter Batt, Ph.D of Curtin University, also a fellow of the International Horticultural Congress, stressed the need for education and capacity-building at the grassroots level in emerging markets like Cambodia.
“A key aspect of addressing challenges in Cambodia, particularly within the honey industry, was capacity building of smallholder farmers and empowering those farmers with basic and practical skills to help them grasp what it takes to thrive in trade,” he said.
Explore untapped resources
CHA also highlighted Cambodia's rich geographic diversity as a wellspring of untapped potential for future GI labels, such as honey from the lesser-known Tonle Sap Lake region. Dr. Try Yong, a beekeeping expert and an advisor to the Royal Ministry of Agriculture, underscored Cambodia’s abundance of untapped honey collection areas in the rest of the country.
“Regions like Tone Sap Lake and the western coasts offer promising opportunities. Despite the vast forests from which much of our honey originates, many areas lack GI certification, signaling significant untapped potential and future business opportunities for our kingdom,” he said.